1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to fence structures for confining animals. More particularly, the present invention relates to fence structures with features that prevent climbing animals, such as cats, from climbing over the fence structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many households have pets. In the United States, two of the most common household pets are dogs and cats. No two pets have the same personalities. Some pets can be trained to live outside and not wanderers away from a home or near a street. Other pets are wanderers and will readily get lost if they are left outside and unrestrained.
Dogs are poor climbers, thus any fence that a dog cannot jump over or dig under is typically sufficient to contain a dog within a confined area. However, cats are natural climbers. They also are very adept at leaping. Thus, in order to confine a cat within fenced area, either a fence has to be constructed that is abnormally high, or some feature has to be added to the fence that deters a cat from climbing over the fence.
In the prior art, there are different types of fences that contain some feature that is intended to prevent the fence from being climbed. Many fences, especially barbed wire fences, have extra runs of barbed wire at the top of the fence to deter people from climbing the fence. Such barbed wire fences are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,015,615 to Caplinger, entitled Fence Guard. However, very few people want to have barbed-wire fences in their backyards to confine their pets. Thus, features have been added to more conventional types of backyard fences that deter the fences from being climbed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,831 to Patrick, entitled Non-Electric Perimeter Fence, discloses a fence structure where angled solid panels are attached to the top of a chain link fence. The supports for the fence must be significant to support the weight of the angled panels and the wind loads experience by the angled panels. Furthermore, a lot of material is needed to create the angled solid panels. As such, the entire fence assembly is expensive to manufacture and difficult to install. Additionally, the angled solid panels are disposed at the top of the fence. As a consequence, the entire fence assembly is highly visible and blocks the view of whatever may lie beyond the fence.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,724 to Heath, entitled Fencing Apparatus For Containing Cats, discloses a wire shelf that can be attached to the back of an existing wooden fence. The wire shelf extends horizontally from the fence and therefore acts as a physical barrier to any cat climbing up the fence. However, in order for the Heath fence barrier to be used, a solid wooded fence must first be constructed around the periphery of the area in which the cat is to be confined. Building a solid wood fence is both expensive and obtrusive in that the wooden fence is a physical barrier that blocks the view of what lay behind the fence.
A need therefore exists in the art for a fencing system that can be used to confine a climbing animal, where the fencing system is low cost, easy to install and does not block the view of what lay beyond the fence. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.